“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

“The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food.  They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.”  Isaiah 65:24, 25

We are approaching the end of God’s word through the Prophet Isaiah. These two verses excite the mind and heart. I have pondered them often, especially when I had the responsibility in church leadership to juggle the needs, desires and demands of a variety of ethnic groups. During those days there were 12 distinct tribes in the small Mennonite denomination in Tanzania, each with its own history, language and tribal memories.  Each group wanted its place around the table.  When disputes broke out I often sighed, longing for the time when the things that divide us simply go away.

At that time I did not reflect much on what was happening in our denomination in USA, had I done so I would have seen the same thing happening – almost like different tribes sitting around a table. We, too are at one another’s throat, so to speak, each wanting something! I have discovered that sectional interests persist in our world, even in churches, and we have not been very successful in our effort to bring peace. Maybe because we also have vested interests.

So it must have been among the Jews that Isaiah spoke to.  I love these two verses!  This chapter records God’s promise to make all things new. We can either interpret them as describing some future state or relegate them to wishful thinking. I do believe that this prophecy is already being fulfilled as men and women are born again, led by the Holy Spirit of God and as they listen sympathetically to all points of view.

“They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.”

The language is dramatic. The wolf that eats lambs will graze with lambs in peace?  Seems impossible because of the nature of both the wolf and the sheep. This can only happen if they are born anew in Christ and submit themselves to Him and to one another to follow the Lamb of God. The same can be said of the mind-stretching possibility that the lion and the ox will feed from the same food trough!

In my own experience I must admit it is easier for sheep to love wolves and cows to love lions that it is for people of this earth to agree! Jesus told us to love our enemies. That is our order for today!